it's that (catholic) time of year again...

time to give something up for lent. so this year i am going to give tv up - which will be hard - especially with new episodes of 24 on. but i am wondering - can i use that sunday excuse to watch 24 online? and what about if ND makes the tournament???? i've been good so far though - i missed the top chef finale - i have no idea who won - feel free to tell me if you know - i would rather hear from a friend than bravotv.com!

one more for the baby book...

so baby j has been doing this for a few weeks at least, but i just decided this week that i'm going to call her "thumper." whenever she gets excited she lifts both legs together up in the air and drops them down with a thump over and over again. it's so cute. she was even doing it last night in her sleep. around 11 pm, i heard on the monitor - "thump, thump, thump." i need to catch my little thumper in action on video soon - before she's onto her next trick...

channeling sugarmouth...

ok - for those of you who all know and love our brigita - you know she is the ultimate bargain finder. she can tear through a thrift shop or a yard sale like nobody's business and always seems to find *the* perfect item. and if it is not perfect, she just turns around and sells it on ebay for a profit (making it a great find by default). yes - one man's trash is brigita's treasure.

being a fellow new englander (i.e. frugal), i understand the thrill of getting a great deal. you feel like you're beating the system. admit it - bragging about how little you paid for something is the best - it means you're not a sucker. but even though i have had my moments of incredible finds (i still get compliments on a $12 purse i got at filene's basement 10 years ago), i feel like a fish out of water in the thrift stores. i never seem to find anything worthwhile, and so i've always been jealous of b's skill (or is it luck?).

but today b was unknowingly sending me some of her good karma. after striking out at a local consignment store this morning, i headed over to our habitat for humanity home store. as i went from room to room pushing baby j and little miss k in the shopping carriage, i started to get more and more discouraged. and then...

i hit the last section...

and...

struck uber-gold!

i found *the* perfect table and chair set for our basement. it was exactly what i was looking for - a small wood kitchen table with folding sides, relatively comfortable chairs, and cheap. i've been looking for such a table set for arts and crafts and in its' previous life it had obviously been used this way with its' colorful paint splatterings, glitter glue globs, and panda sticker on one of the seats. i was giddy within an instant of my find (actually i think i am still on a bit of a high). best of all, the money goes to habitat for humanity - an organization near and dear to my heart. shout out to b for my good fortune today!

it's not that cold here but...

it's so cold here that you can freeze your baby wipes in the car.

so when j and i switched roles, we moved to CA and i was now the one driving the kid car all the time. i had this brilliant idea to always leave a bag of baby wipes in the car - even if my kids weren't wearing diapers. it was just great to always be able to wipe down the car, "wash" our hands, etc. why did j never do this when he was home with the kids? well i know one reason why now. boston is alot colder for many more months than here in NC and i currently have an ice block of baby wipes sitting in my car. obviously this was never an issue in CA...

let's put this in perspective...

ok - so another "snow" day and another 1/8 inch of snow?!?!? but i was thinking - i guess it is good that they call school so easily around here. when we moved to CA, we sold our shovels and i don't even have an ice scraper in my car anymore. we're snow wimps now. we fit right in.

actually this is the update you've been waiting for...

the weekend wrap-up:
the weekend warriors that we're not now that we have 3 little kids - we just did an overnight a short drive away to charlotte on saturday. we scored free parking at a meter across the street from the entrance to the museum and then discovered that our admission was free with our membership to our local kids' museum! the museum is nothing like boston's or san jose's, but it was worth the visit and kept the kids entertained for a few hours. afterwards we checked into our hotel, went swimming in the heated indoor pool, and then headed to allyson's* (a nd friend aka stress) for dinner. we had a great time catching up and enjoying adult conversation while her kids entertained t-man and little miss k. on sunday morning, the kids went swimming again after breakfast and then we headed home in time for me to start baking for a superbowl party. overall a great little family getaway that was relatively inexpensive - total bonus. we'll have to do it again.

the superbowl party was the icing on the weekend cupcakes. i didn't have much interest in the game this year but it was fun to get out of the house and enjoy some good food. shout out to miss o and mister k** for hosting us! all and all - goodtimes...

* thanks again for dinner!
** i'm actually becoming a fan of this southern way of addressing adults

the update you've been waiting for...

so how did i do on my listS?

well i got everything i HAD to do done except baking the cookies - that happened on sunday. and i did get my shower in - that's about it. i guess it just points back to the age old question - where does the time go when you have 3 kids under the age of 5??????